


For The Asking

by shopfront



Category: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-23
Updated: 2008-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-25 01:56:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1625432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopfront/pseuds/shopfront
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John and Cameron have a minor disagreement over right and wrong and the appropriate use of guns on soldiers. [Spoiler warning for speculation on season two episodes.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	For The Asking

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the wonderful Amanda for holding my hand and fixing my commas.
> 
> Written for Catw00man

 

 

When John re-enters the room, Derek is unconscious on the ground and Cameron has a gun pointed at Jesse's head.

"No! Cameron, stop!"

"She is here to interfere with my mission. My mission is to protect you, John. She must be stopped."

"Being uncomfortable around a machine doesn't make her a threat. My mother isn't exactly comfortable with you either!"

"Your mother understands that I am necessary for your safety. Removing me leaves you vulnerable. Jesse has been trying to remove me. That makes her a security risk."

"Cameron, _please_."

"This is the most effective way to neutralise her."

"And I'm saying you can't!"

"Why?"

"Because... because she's a soldier! She's on our side!"

"Her actions are a threat. She is placing your security at risk. That is not 'on our side.'"

"Killing her is still wrong," John says, and lunges for Cameron's arm. He hangs on and tries to tug it down, but he knows it's futile if she doesn't listen. "You have to listen to me Cameron, this is wrong."

"Please step back, John. I do not want to hurt you."

Jesse scoffs, the sound audible even through her gag.

Cameron cocks her head and turns her unblinking stare back on Jesse. "You doubt my intentions towards John."

Jesse snarls in reply and thrashes against her restraints.

"See, look! She's willing to talk, even to you-"

"I do not think she was trying to talk to me calmly, John."

"We might be able to get more information out of her. She could be useful to us alive."

"She will continue to try to separate us. That is a threat-"

"-to my security, I know, I know." John sighs. "How can she do that when we know about her now? It's not like she could take you down if she got loose."

Cameron turns her stare back on John. "You sometimes have unrealistic expectations of my abilities."

"Well, she couldn't do it easily on her own, anyway."

"She has Derek Reese," Cameron replies, and gestures to where Derek is lying near the door. "He should wake up soon."

"Then why don't you stop talking and start restraining him before that happens?"

Cameron blinks and considers him.

John grits his teeth and stares back.

"She will not stop trying, John."

"You don't know that. We can keep her contained and talk to her. There are other ways around this, Cameron."

"I do not take orders from you, John."

"I- I'm not ordering you, I'm asking. Cameron, please. There are other solutions to this." He wants to grab her by the shoulders and shake her, but he knows it won't do any good. She'll still stand there, silently examining his face until she processes enough data to reach a conclusion. To answer him.

Sometimes, in his worse nightmares, he thinks that stare is the same one he gets from the other machines. Analysing his facial structure, matching it to a mission. Terminate John Connor.

Then she tilts her head once more and places her gun in his outstretched hand, but she doesn't let go. They stand there, Cameron still and John uneasy, with the gun held between them. Their fingers touch over the grip.

"I do not take orders from you, John," she says, and then she releases her hold on the gun. Her focus and gaze immediately elsewhere, she walks past him towards Derek, turning her body to avoid bumping him, but trailing the ends of her fingers along the back of his neck as she goes.

He shivers. "Why did you...."

"You asked," she says, and it's thrown over her shoulder so casually, like she's human. As if she doesn't have a set of pre-defined commands that force her actions; like she has a choice.

John watches her move past him and set Derek on a chair, then fetch one of their many rolls of tape to secure him before he turns back towards Jesse. She glares at him, all anger and spitfire even though she can't speak, and it seems like all that hatred for Cameron is now burning for him. Her captor and her leader, who trusts a machine more.

Apparently he still does, even in the future.

He knows he should rip the tape off her mouth and try to get something useful out of her. At least get her talking, demonstrate to Cameron that he may have a point here. That she doesn't need to turn a gun on Jesse the second he stops looking.

Cameron made a decision to give up her gun and let Jesse live. For now. But he doesn't know how long that decision will last.

"What does your programming say to do?" John doesn't look at her, can't look. She's putting the finishing touches on Derek's restraints, and he can't look her in the eye. He meets Jesse's gaze defiantly instead, knowing the set of his jaw is unnecessarily tense. He's just a teenager, he's not the John she knows, and he thinks he's allowed some extravagance and overreaction.

"John?"

"What does your programming say to do about her? What commands are flashing across your vision when you look at her?"

"That she is a threat to your safety. That she must be terminated." She stands and walks around Derek towards him, her footsteps sounding too heavy for her appearance, just like always.

"And you just disregard that?"

"You asked. Terminating Jesse now would make you angry."

"Since when do you care whether I'm angry?"

"If you are angry at me then it is harder to keep you safe. Sometimes you do stupid things when you are angry, John."

John clenches and unclenches his free hand. It is somehow both not the answer he wanted _and_ not the answer he expected.

"You do not believe me."

"No, no I believe you. It's about tactics."

"I am here to keep you safe."

He stares at Jesse, who glares back, and he can practically feel Cameron's gaze drilling holes in the side of his head. They stay like that until Derek groans from his chair in the corner, making John start.

"I should check the perimeter," Cameron says, still watching them.

"You do that. I'll stay here with them." Cameron turns to leave, but something in John makes him want to reach out towards her. "We're not doing anything with them until Mum gets back."

"Sarah Connor will know what to do," Cameron agrees from the doorway. "Okay, John." She smiles, and walks out of his line of vision.

He frowns and grabs a seat, dragging it back to sit in front of Jesse. He won't rip the tape off either of their mouths. They'll just sit there, the three of them, in silence until his mother gets home. Then there'll be questions and yelling and explanations that can't make up for the betrayal. But he'll wait, and he won't start anything while Cameron is checking the perimeter, because-

He asked, and she agreed. Somehow, that's important. 

 


End file.
